1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developer treatment apparatus for treating excess developer which contains a solvent composed of a hydrocarbon as a main component and a pigment dispersed therein and is discharged from a development unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Apart from the various methods of recording images that make use of silver halides, there are several known methods of recording images including a magnetic method (magnetography), an electrophotographic method and so forth.
In magnetography which is the magnetic method, a magnetic latent image is formed on a drum onto which a recording layer formed from a magnetic substance is applied, and a developer containing a hydrocarbon as a main component is applied to the magnetic latent image so formed, and subsequently the image is developed by a resin toner containing the powder magnetic substance dispersed in the developer applied to be recorded on the recording layer and transferred to a transfer paper to provide a copy.
Electrographic apparatuses are known which employ an electrographic method in which a image is recorded in a given frame of an electrophotographic film and can then be projected or copied.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,600,291 and 4,697,912 disclose a process head disposed on such an electrographic apparatus for charging an electrophotographic film, exposure, development thereof or the like.
A process head of the type disclosed in the above-described publications is provided with a charging and exposure unit, a development unit, a drying unit, a fixing unit and so on. These units are disposed in the above-described order in the direction in which the electrophotographic film is conveyed, the interval between these units being represented by a given value which is equal to the frame pitch of the electrophotographic film.
A developer which is stored in a developer tank and contains a hydrocarbon as a main component is supplied to the development unit where the developer is applied to the electrophotographic film. The toner particles which are contained in the developer and electrified to negative polarity therefore adhere to the negative charge formed on the electrophotographic film to form a developed image which is recorded on the electrophotographic film.
The above-described method of magnetography or electrophotography has problems that since excess developer (a solvent composed of a hydrocarbon as a main component in which toner particles are dispersed) remaining after development is returned to the developer tank and reused as a developer, a return pipeline is required to be disposed and the piping is thus complicated.
There is other problem in that, since a developer that has been used for development several times loses its strength, the weak developer must be discarded as waste. This imposes a burdensome need for attention to the time-consuming problems of dealing with waste solution disposal.
In view of the above-described problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a photographic treatment apparatus which requires no piping for returning a developer to a development tank and is thus able to reduce the amount of time required for disposal of excess developer in the form of a waste solution.